Abstract

Background Glasgow, the largest city in Scotland, has high levels of deprivation and a poor-health profile compared with other parts
of Europe, which cannot be fully explained by the high levels of deprivation. The ‘excess’ premature mortality in Glasgow
is now largely attributable to deaths from alcohol, drugs, suicide and violence.

Methods Alcohol-related mortality in Glasgow from 1980 to 2011 was examined relative to the equally deprived UK cities of Manchester
and Liverpool with the aim of identifying differences across the cities, with respect to gender, age and birth cohort, that
could help explain the ‘excess’ mortality in Glasgow.

Results In the 1980s, alcohol-related mortality in Glasgow was three times higher than in Manchester and Liverpool. Alcohol-related
mortality increased in all three cities over the subsequent three decades, but a sharp rise in deaths in the early 1990s was
unique to Glasgow. The increase in numbers of deaths in Glasgow was greater than in Manchester and Liverpool, but there was
little difference in the pattern of alcohol-related deaths, by sex or birth cohort that could explain the excess mortality
in Glasgow. The recent modest decrease in alcohol-related mortality was largely experienced by all birth cohorts, with the
notable exception of the younger cohort (born between 1970 and 1979): women in this cohort across all three cities experienced
disproportionate increases in alcohol-related mortality.

Conclusions It is imperative that this early warning sign in young women in the UK is acted on if deaths from alcohol are to reduce in
the long term.

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